Iran crushes South Korea 2-0

IRNA - Strikers Gholam-Reza Enayati and Hossein Badamaki found the net after the interval to help Iran beat a depleted South Korea 2-0 at the last AFC Asian Cup Group B qualifier here Wednesday.

The two sides fought to a goalless tie in the first half in the Azadi Stadium, but Enayati broke the standoff, heading home an Andranik Teymourian cross on 48 minutes.

Substitute Badamaki escaped the offside trap to race to a perfect through ball from left winger Alireza Vahedi-Nikbakht and beat the Korean keeper Kim Young-gwang with a side-footed drive in the 90th minute.

The first leg in Seoul ended in a 1-1 stalemate.

Iran took the top spot in the table with 14 points, three more than Korea's asset.

In another Group B game, Syria thrashed underdog Taiwan 3-0, finishing third on eight points.

Taiwan sticks to rock bottom without any point.

Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia will jointly host the finals next July. The co-hosts went through automatically.